Key steps in setting employee goals

Highly motivated and engaged employees are essential for creating a successful business. Workers who have a positive attitude and feel good in what they do, as well as know they are valued drive productivity. However there are key steps in setting employee goals that are essential to know and use for organizations.

This has the potential of sustaining health of the business, and places it in an upper edge to compete with others in the market. The aspect of cultivating the employee’s engagement should be a key priority for any business leader. And one of the easiest ways to ensure that your employees feel part of the business is to involve them in setting goals, which guides them in achieving the company’s mission. 

However, setting employee goals is not a one-day thing that the managers check on the diary and impose on workers. Rather, it follows a certain protocol, which should be followed to achieve the desired outcome.

Key steps in setting employee goals

The employees’ goals dictate how well the organization would perform in the market. Any leader willing to take an organization to the next level should take time to figure out the steps that they can adopt to ensure that employees understand their own goals. 

Check out the ways how us at Efectio can help you achieve this process at Setting employee goals.

The following key steps in setting employee goals can be implemented to come up with the most objective goals.

Efficient communication

Being able to communicate the ideas of the business in an understandable manner is the key priority to success of a business. It is expected that the managers should be able to disseminate what they need to the junior officers, either directly, or through the immediate supervisors.

Whatever the method adopted, communication ought to be easier and straightforward, while avoiding the ambiguity of the message.

Another aspect that should be noted about communication is that it should not be an authoritarian form of communication. The leader of any business should strive to engage the employees during the goal setting process. This is done by allowing them to give out their ideas, before a final set of goals is arrived at.

Set SMART goals

Employees might not be able to set goals for themselves, and they can tend to set too high goals that become difficult to achieve. In order to avoid this situation, there is a need to consider the strength of every individual, before settling on the final goal. 

To avoid the instances of setting unattainable goals, managers can adopt SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-based) framework to help employees create a strong foundation.

Creating consistent goals for workers with similar responsibilities

It is the duty of the employer to foster a conducive environment for the employees to thrive. This is actualized by first understanding the strengths of every person, and grouping them based on capabilities. 

Goal setting can backfire if it is creating a form of competition in the workplace, and also undermine a positive culture. Encourage workers with similar skills to work towards a similar goal to motivate productivity.

Planning a meeting about the goals

Although it is the work of the top management to set the employee goals in alignment with the overall company goal, it cannot work well if taken as a one-man job. In the modern economy where the diversity in the workplace cannot be ignored, inclusion in any business idea creates a sense of togetherness. 

A manager of the business should consider calling for a meeting to discuss the goals, and amend the areas that the employees might feel uncomfortable with.

Emphasize attainable goals

Setting goals is one thing, and achieving those goals is another. With this recognition in the mind, overly ambitious goals can fail depending on the resources available and skills. Burdening the employees with far reaching goals is something that can lead to frustrations. 

Consider first evaluating the resources available in the organization to support the goals, and then capitalize on what is humanly possible. One quick way to establish if the goals are attainable is to check whether the previous employee with the same skills and training managed to achieve a similar goal before.

Reward employees who attain their goals

It is critical to recognize the effort of the employees who achieve or exceed the set goals. This not only appreciates them, but also signals that the company values this kind of commitment. Alternatively, when such efforts go unnoticed, employees lack the taste to work hard and contemplate looking for more fulfilling jobs elsewhere.

Create a competitive advantage for your business by setting goals that are achievable. This would help your workforce to remain challenged and motivated throughout their working.

Check out our other relevant articles such as Onboarding survey questions and Key benefits of team building.